MEDIA PINGS...Today the Irish postal service An Post issued a 82c stamp to celebrate the Olympic Games 2012. The graphics are an easy read--five verticals, combined with contemporary typography, to represent Ireland's close proximity to London and Team Ireland’s short journey across the Irish Sea.
There's also a 55c Olympic stamp that shows a stylized "medal stand" ceremony. Both were created by Dublin's Red Dog Design, same studio that developed the Ireland EU Presidency logo...Irish Times examined Irish anxiety over a hot button issue in US politics in a recent piece entitled “US election focus on jobs could backfire on Ireland” about the current presidential campaign issue over the outsourcing of American jobs, writing “Ireland is not yet in the firing line but, should US companies be criticized for creating jobs in Ireland during the campaign, Irish officials have prepared a pre-emptive strike in the heat of a US election debate about outsourcing.” Should the issue start drifting its way, Ireland is ready to fire off this factoid: “A recent study by the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University found that Ireland and the US employ equal numbers of each other’s citizens: some 110,000 on both sides of the Atlantic.”...Independent News & Media, the indebted Irish media group, is also South Africa's biggest newspaper group and it's SA titles are up for sale. The SA website BusinessLive reports that the news  “ignited a flurry of speculation about politically connected buyers lining up to bid for the group” and its titles The Star, Cape Times and Sunday Independent...Northern Ireland has the highest access to superfast broadband in the UK, Margaret Canning reports in the Belfast Telegraph. She details media regulator Ofcom's Communications Market Report 2012 which found that high-speed service was available to approximately 94 percent of NI homes and businesses, compared to 60 percent for the UK as a whole...No shortage of good ideas—SiliconRepublic reports that the Irish Business Employers Federation (IBEC) has released its “Action Plan for Recovery: 50 Ideas to Drive Growth,” which calls for major reform and creative investment initiatives to support job creation, restore domestic demand and deliver better public services...closer to home, my home that is, Irish events surge on in NYC through the heat of summer including these two FREE cultural fixtures... The Irish American Writers and Artists will hold its monthly “Salon at The Cell” on Tues., July 24 from 7-9 PM.  There's no charge to attend and you'll be entertained by IAW&A members doing readings, singing, trying out a scene from a play, or showing a video.  The Cell Theatre is at 338 West 23rd Street...A few IAW&A members will resurface throughout the day at Joe Hurley's OurLand Festival, a great FREE celebration of Irish culture in American, presented in Association with The Consulate General of Ireland, that will rock on all day, outdoors at Lincoln Center, Sun., July 29 from 2-10 PM.